Friday, October 26, 2012

How to make organic fertilizer from coffee pulp

This past coffee harvest, UMF made its first steps toward producing
an organic fertilizer from coffee pulp. Turning the fruit of the coffee cherry
that encases the bean into an organic fertilizer helps us promote environmental
and economic sustainability in coffee production. To give an idea of the
importance of this, every kilogram of untreated coffee pulp contaminates the
environment as much as a day’s worth of human excrement. It has been several
months since we began treating coffee pulp from our processing plant, and we
are excited to say that the fertilizer is ready to be applied.

There are several different ways to produce organic
fertilizer from coffee pulp; the main two ways are through a vermiculture and through
accelerated degradation by addition of micro-organisms. UMF did a trial of
three different ways to break down toxic coffee pulp:

1) Vermiculture:

We spread the pulp, gave it a few
weeks for initial decomposition (when the temperature of the pulp and moisture
content can be harmful to worms), and then added a bunch of California Red
Worms, provided to us by IHCAFE. These worms eat and digest the coffee pulp,
slowly breaking it down.

2) Commercial Organic Product:

We sprayed the
coffee pulp with BioAG, a commercially available, certified organic product of
enzymes and micro-organisms. This product breaks down the pulp through a
mixture of yeasts, sugars, and bacteria that digest the pulp.

3) Home-made Organic Product:

With the same goal as commercial products, the home-made organic product is made using bacteria and micro-organisms
found in coffee farms and then cultivated.

Gilberto and Martir take samples for soil analysis.

Each product has advantages and disadvantages. The
vermiculture is relatively inexpensive (the only input is worms, which are
readily available for free from a variety of sources) but requires close
attention to maintain proper moisture levels. BioAG is the easiest of the three
solutions, requiring only one application and no further care, but is
relatively expensive. And the home-made organic product is very inexpensive,
but requires a large amount of up-front work to prepare and replicate
micro-organisms. It also requires a series of applications and works more
slowly than BioAG or the vermiculture.

We took samples from each of the three trials and prepared
them for soil analysis. These samples are on their way to the IHCAFE soil
analysis lab where the three trials will be tested for macronutrients,
micronutrients, and soil structure. Once we have these results, we will be able
to compare ease of use, cost, and quality of organic fertilizer produced by
each of the three methods.

Farmers learn about growing micro-organisms at a training
with UMF, USAID and UMA.

We are the first organization in the area to run a trial of a
variety of forms of organic fertilizer production. This means that once we get
soil samples back from the lab, we will be able to give informed advice to
hundreds of farmers on how to best convert toxic coffee pulp into beneficial
organic fertilizer.

We have already hosted a training session for farmers to
show the different ways of producing organic fertilizer from coffee pulp.

We will post results from the soil analysis when they come
back (generally 30-60 days), and we are excited to begin preparation for this
year’s coffee harvest, when we plan to expand practical trials and research in
coffee production. This will allow us to better assist farmers as they strive
for better quality and environmental sustainability.

14 comments:

There is also a way to use pulp with other products to make an organic fertilizer, called boccachi. Since it uses yeast and molasses, it provides a fertilizer in about 20 days. A friend of mine in Gracias uses this process, sells the fertilizer, and also teaches others how to make it.

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